Apalai - History and Cultural Relations

It is difficult to obtain information about the Apalai of the past
because both archaeological data and historical documentation are
lacking. Moreover, the few references dwell mainly on the location of
villages. The oldest reports go back to the second quarter of the
eighteenth century and state that the "Appirois" and
Appareilles" inhabited the headwaters of the Jari and Oiapoque
rivers. Following a period of silence, references from the second half
of the nineteenth century reveal that Apalai communities occupied a vast
territory, with concentrations on the lower courses of the Curuá
de Alenquer, Maicuru, Paru de Leste, and Jari rivers. During this time,
Apalai history can be traced together with that of the other indigenous
groups of the Tumucumaque because they have many cultural traits in
common, including the fact that most of them spoke Carib languages. They
inhabited an area between the basins of the Trombetas and Jari rivers
and their respective tributaries. Their almost complete isolation was
only occasionally interrupted by hostile encounters with neighboring
tribes, sporadic visits of travelers and scientists, and contacts mainly
of a commercial nature with Guianese Maroons.

At the beginning of the twentieth century such contacts with the outside
world increased, precipitating a drastic decimation of the indigenous
population and promoting the regrouping and fusion of the survivors.
Alarmed by these events, the Apalai initially retired to the headwaters
of the Rio Maicuru and the lower and middle Paru de Leste and Jari
rivers, including the latter's tributary, the Ipitinga. Finally,
during the 1960s, they concentrated along the Paru de Leste. Their oral
tradition recounts long periods of war, notably against the Cariban
Wayana to the north and the Tupían Wayãpi to the east of
their territory, as well as against certain hunting-gathering peoples
whose survivors they incorporated into their own population. The process
of fusion with the Wayana seems to have begun at the end of the
nineteenth century, when the Apalai were concentrated on the Rio Paru de
Este. According to mythical narratives, peaceful relations were
established between these two groups when they allied themselves to
destroy Tuluperê, a common enemy of supernatural origin.

There were Apalai contacts with nonindigenous populations (Brazilians
and Guianese) at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Such contact
has increased in the twentieth century and can be characterized as
intermittent owing to the seasonal character of the region's
extractive economy, which is based on balata, Brazil nuts, feline pelts
(e.g., those of jaguars), gold, and tin; the Apalai used to participate
in some of these activities and occasionally still do, either as
extractors or providers of implements or foodstuffs to non-Indian
extractors. In the 1960s the Apalai began to have permanent contacts
with both missionaries and institutions of public service. The
missionaries, who settled in the area in 1963, are evangelists
representing the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), a Protestant
group, and the Baptist Alliance of the Amazon (ALBAMA). They devote
themselves to the study of the Apalai language, which they use in their
literacy work and in proselytizing, thereby exerting strong
deculturative pressure. Government bodies are represented by the
Brazilian Air Force (FAB) and the Fundação Nacional do
Indio (National Indian Foundation, FUNAI). In 1969 the former installed
a landing strip along the middle Rio Paru in a place known as
"Apalai Village" and began a regular line of aerial
transport. In 1973 FUNAI installed itself near the landing strip. At
first this body's activities were of little effect; FUNAI limited
itself to occasional hygenic assistance and the purchase of handicrafts.
Later, the Indian post implemented more stable programs concerning
hygiene and literacy in Portuguese. At the end of the 1980s, military
control of the area was increased with the implementation of the CALHA
Norte Project (PCN), and the Indian reserve of Tumucumaque became one of
its areas of priority.

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